here's a summary I posted 2+ years ago a while back elsewhere..... Brief update as mentioned I use f-stop mostly. I interchange the ICUs from Peakdesign and Mindshift. The Raptor waistcoat is often all I wear when hiking, as it can carry a macro and U-wide etc. And it's a boon when flying to pack away a 2nd camera and a couple of smaller lenses...
Based on initial reviews only, I took the plunge and bought the Mindshift Elite 45L Backpack. After 2 long flights, and testing in 2 hikes, So far I'm impressed. It meets my needs above and beyond the B'packs I have tried out. No perfect Backpack yet exists, especially to balance a handy Daypack capable of packing a fair pile of camera gear (eg Vanguard Sky 51D) vs the constraints of Airline-Friendly (eg PD Travel B'pack) vs the demands of Outdoor Hiking (eg f-Stop Sukha)
Summary of Comparisons with key positives (+ve) and negatives (-ve) with respect to seeking to dovetail the optimal solution that combines flights + fieldwork, and also wildlife photography in a vehicle using a generous inventory of Nikon gear. Almost all my photography is central and southern Africa.
My experience travelling over past few years with at least 10kg of cabin luggage (usually more) is that choice of airline is the biggest factor that controls if one succeeds in reaching the final destination without surrendering valuable gear into the hold (or worse). I've also sought out a solution suitable for hiking, where I have found a waistcoat and/or hipbelt backs up the backpack; ideal for peripherals. All backpacks have failed on at least 1 criterion, and in a key feature.
Wherever possible I fly British Airways, because the maximum cabin limit is usually 2 bags of 23kg each. Hence... the logical choice for wildlife photography trips with heavy Nikon gear! After trying several backpacks over the past 3 decades, I recently settled on the new Mindshift Elite 45L toward the optimum solution for carry on and hiking with 20+kg of gear. Previous to this, among the myriad of choices the more prominent models I have tried :
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Mindshift Backlight 26L: too little volume for big telephoto(s) but these do well for lighter kit (landscape) and day hikes etc. Decent weatherproofing against rain or dust;
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Vanguard Sky Alta 53: excellent for heavy gear loads +tripod (or drone) + big laptop but design team lost the plot on the bag's outside. There is no room for peripherals... weird design failure, which condemns this bag in the field and especially flying; where you want to pack in more than lots of photogear. However it does work well for daytrips with photogear only, although many users may prefer the 51D or 45D versions. So I have kept a 45D for local shooting with a telephoto and 2 bodies, and this pack is ideal for trip to shoot a landscape. The latter models have their main interior divided by a 2-tiered divider (optional) which is useful to organize and access items; access is via Top-Lid, the Rear Panel and through mid-bag "Caesarian section", thanks to the medial zip that opens the bag into 2 halves (top and bottom). The Top Lid on all these Sky Alta bags - the biggest 53 especially - is a notable plus to access a big rigged telephoto quickly. Really robust construction. More than Decent weatherproofing against rain or dust. But I finally sold on the 53, as it's not feasible to try and modify to take external pouches;
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Peak Design Travel Backpack: I subscribed via Kickstarter last year to entire system... accessories are all good. Conclusion 8+ months later is the Backpack is overpriced and fails in its lack of key features. Internal design works well, as does the rear and side panel access. No top access is a -ve; as you cannot access a medium to large lens rigged on a camera. Modular design is a big +ve. But the harness is a joke...even on a moderately loaded pack, given it is rated to take up to 45litres. Camera cube options are limited to smaller photogear mainly (fits a 400 f2.8 Nikkor). Exterior Side pouches prove too tight in practice. In practice these are useless (trying to quickly stash a sealed sandwich at a train-station kiosk crushed them flat!). Poor design at such high price applies especially to what PD has passed off as the "Hip-Belt". This is more a joke, as it is in fact a rip off. So this bag is limited to short trips and airport carry on. It fails as a travel backpack, primarily because the designers failed to upgrade the harness to handle carrying a decent load for longer than 1 hour at best. NOT for a half let alone full day's peregrination, whether urban or outdoors. OTH the packing cubes should fit most packs of similar size. [the Origami style pads/dividers are very useful in this respect, transplanted to another pack
] Means to attach tripod is poor for this PD pack; it's really bad actually for a decent sized Sirui or Gitzo; especially when I compare fittings on the bigger Vanguards and Mindshift Backlights. Even though the pack is really well built with strong zips, it is not worth the high price, especially as PD charge extra for the raincoat;
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Mindshift Backlight Elite 45L: experience so far as this was recently released: The modular ICU can be vital if you run into strictures of cabin weight / space on a flight (ie regional flights, especially light planes and or draconian regulations). Plus the detachable Top-Lid + hipbelt metamorphoses on separate assembly into a hipbelt of copious volume. The top lid is a big plus to get rapid access to a big rigged telephoto. The only -ve is lack of side panel zip access into interior (as in PD Travel B'pack) but I can live without these. The Exterior Side pouches work in practice; so does the exterior strapping system for a tripod. I can pack water or food either side in these panels plus big tripod strapped outer centre.
And it goes without saying any backpack for wildlife must have rear panel access; in this case the padded Hipbelt of the Elite works well to access the bag off the ground (swung off one's shoulders). Another +ve is the Peakdesign camera cubes fit this pack almost perfectly (although the largest cube is shorter than the native camera cube supplied by Mindshift). Excellent weatherproofing against rain or dust with exterior spec fabrics and robust zips., plus included raincover. IMHO this bag is worth the relatively high price. The videos etc don't show in detail the tier of 3 lids to the bag's top: inner camera-module (3 sided zip); thin b'pack top (3 sided zip); and uppermost weather-proof pouch. The latter has 4 clips on each corner to remove, and it slides on the detaching waistbelt. The outer can also be extended on its 4 straps to add in more gear (folded jacket etc). The 2 innermost lids can be folded away
Misc Tactics
While the ultimate bag for max volume seems to be the likes of f-Stop Sukha with big ICU, it's not always possible to get these things into aircabins (!) Outdoors, OTOH, these bigger packs can carry plenty plus. They are designed for this task.
At checkin, I always wear a Waistcoat with lots of pockets. Even better than their Venture vest, the Country Innovation Raptor packs a gripped D850 into a main side pocket (+ much more) than the lighter Venture. Highly recommend the outdoor jackets etc by this UK company designed for people like us :
Perfect Photographer Vest: Tough, durable & 15 pockets. Made from military grade fabric, the Raptor Waistcoat is a strong workhorse. Buy yours...
www.countryinnovation.com
video review refers
Field Protecting a Super Telephoto Rig
Where I plan to shoot mainly in vehicles (also hides) I also pack a Lowepro Lens Trekker 600 AW III for dedicated super-telephoto protection/portage shooting. Besides being more inconspicuous, this pack helps minimize knocks, dust etc in the African hinterland. In flight(s), this bag goes inside a big sports bag into the hold with a tripod and misc. items filling its empty space.
The LensTrekker is long enough to carry an assembled 400 f2.8E + D850; and this rig also fits with added TC2 III. I replaced the thick padded base with a thinner EVA synthetic rubber insert; now the assembled 400 f2.8 fits with extended hood (total length = 625mm). The specs say this bag will also take a 600 f4 with DSLR.